EU 2 year guarantee

Optimist

voynich wrote: »

I had a look through the links supplied on this web site and it appears that Martin Lewis is saying that the EU directive does not give us any additional rights in the UK as we have 6 years.

However what is confusing is that the EU directive appears to imply that you have 2 years where you the consumer does not have to have proof that you know what caused the fault, where as Martin seems to be saying that it is only 6 months.

Really unless you are lucky when you complain it looks as if the consumer really just has 6 months or goes to court within 6 years as sometimes it is hard and expensive to try and show what caused the fault when electrical goods break down.

So it is shafted as usual.

The EU directive did give you additional rights you now have 6 months in which the retailer has to prove the item isnt faulty. You didnt have this previously. The Supply and Sale of Goods Regulations 2002 were brought in to update SOGA and bring it into line with the EU regs.

The EU directive doesnt imply any such thing as giving 2 years where you can just return a item without having to prove fault, its 6 months. Bad reporting from the likes of the Mail gave the impression you had 2 years.

The 6 years isnt a guarantee nor does it mean all goods have to last 6 years. This is just the amount of time you have to claim in respect of a fault that was present at the time of sale. The EU directive gives you 2 years and this is where bad reporting has created the myth of a 2 year guarantee comes from

You havent been shafted...

wangtastic

Interesting stuff, thanks Optimist for explaining that simply.
Useful info to know!

voynich

After speaking to consumer advice and having a look at the Retra website which gives more advice and says how long a particular item should last it still looks as if we the consumer have been shafted in all but name.

Yes you do have 6 years protection under the sale of goods act but it is limited that in after 6 months the onus is on the buyer to get and pay for an independant expert to say what the problem is, which determines if it is the retailer or yourself pays.

Yes you can go to court if the retailer will not budge and if you win you can get your costs back but in the mean time there can be a delay in fixing your product as you have to give the retailer at least 2 weeks to agree to have some one come out and repair the product. This is not always convenient for the purchaser depending on what they have bought.

There is always the chance that you can loose your court case. Not everyone has the money to cover the costs of an independent expert plug having their equipment repaired and the small claim court costs before trying to find out if they can be assured of getting their money back.

Consumer rights it seems are only truly guaranteed for the first 6 months.

If the law was changed so that the retailer had some rights against the manufacturer then the retailer might be more willing to reimburse the customer.

dmg24

voynich wrote: »

After speaking to consumer advice and having a look at the Retra website which gives more advice and says how long a particular item should last it still looks as if we the consumer have been shafted in all but name.

Yes you do have 6 years protection under the sale of goods act but it is limited that in after 6 months the onus is on the buyer to get and pay for an independant expert to say what the problem is, which determines if it is the retailer or yourself pays.

Yes you can go to court if the retailer will not budge and if you win you can get your costs back but in the mean time there can be a delay in fixing your product as you have to give the retailer at least 2 weeks to agree to have some one come out and repair the product. This is not always convenient for the purchaser depending on what they have bought.

There is always the chance that you can loose your court case. Not everyone has the money to cover the costs of an independent expert plug having their equipment repaired and the small claim court costs before trying to find out if they can be assured of getting their money back.

Consumer rights it seems are only truly guaranteed for the first 6 months.

If the law was changed so that the retailer had some rights against the manufacturer then the retailer might be more willing to reimburse the customer.

If you took the time to read other threads on this board, you will see that consumers are far from shafted. Many of us have been able to assert our rights far beyond six months without resorting to court action.

wealdroam

voynich wrote: »

After speaking to consumer advice and having a look at the Retra website which gives more advice and says how long a particular item should last it still looks as if we the consumer have been shafted in all but name.

Yes you do have 6 years protection under the sale of goods act but it is limited that in after 6 months the onus is on the buyer to get and pay for an independant expert to say what the problem is, which determines if it is the retailer or yourself pays.

Yes you can go to court if the retailer will not budge and if you win you can get your costs back but in the mean time there can be a delay in fixing your product as you have to give the retailer at least 2 weeks to agree to have some one come out and repair the product. This is not always convenient for the purchaser depending on what they have bought.

There is always the chance that you can loose your court case. Not everyone has the money to cover the costs of an independent expert plug having their equipment repaired and the small claim court costs before trying to find out if they can be assured of getting their money back.

Voynich, have you been able to confirm that we, the people of the UK, are 'being shafted' more than the rest of Europe?

I am sure your research will have shown that the UK's implementation of this Directive is more generous to the consumer than implementations in some other countries.

voynich wrote: »

Consumer rights it seems are only truly guaranteed for the first 6 months.

Again, is this any different from the rest of Europe?

This 'restriction' is only as far as SOGA is concerned.
Most manufacturers still offer a twelve month guarantee, don't they?

voynich wrote: »

If the law was changed so that the retailer had some rights against the manufacturer then the retailer might be more willing to reimburse the customer.

Does it need a law change?
Surely all it needs is for the retailer to agree contracts with his suppliers that allow him, the retailer, to return faulty goods to his supplier.